Why Are You Doing This? 2
by kipseyjewles
Summary: This is basically Why are you doing this? But version 2. It starts out the exact same as version one but changes a bit at the end. Rated T to be safe.
1. Prologue

**None of these characters belong to me sadly. They belong to S. E. Hinton.**

 **Prologue**

Ponyboy's POV

It had been a few months after Johnny and Dally had died. Soda was now 17 and Steve was almost 17. At first the gang had some trouble getting over Johnny and Dally's death, but some of them slowly started to get over it. I wasn't one of those people. I was still upset. Soda would try to be there for me from when he came home from work in the evening to when he left again the next morning.

My nightmares were back as well. And they were worse. After mom and dad died, my nightmares were bad. Now after losing Johnny and Dallas, they're worse. Every time I have a nightmare though, Soda is there for me. I'm grateful too. Sometimes Darry comes, if I wake him up, but it's usually just Soda. That's okay with me though. Soda knows how to comfort me.

There was one day though that was different from all others. Soda came home from work in a bad mood. I didn't know why. When I asked him, he yelled at me. He yelled, "Well it's none of your business is it?!"

I had backed up a bit. Sodapop hardly ever yelled at me. And he usually tells me everything. I just shrugged it off though and went into the room we shared. I would ask Soda what was wrong when he was in a better mood. I was sitting at the desk in the room, doing homework, when Soda came in. He still looked upset though.

"Soda can you please tell me what's wrong?" I begged.

He looked at me then glared a bit. "I told you. You don't need to know." HE then climbed into bed. I sighed and decided to go to bed too. After I got ready for bed, I climbed in next to him. He wasn't asleep, and his back was to me. "Night Soda."

"Mhm." Was all he said back. I sighed again and fell asleep.

XXX

Surprisingly, I didn't have any nightmares last night. In the morning Soda seemed to be in a better mood but he still seemed upset. Something happened to him yesterday, and i was going to make it my job to find out.

I asked him what happened that morning, but he just said that he might tell me later. I guess that was better then not telling me at all.

XXX

I went to school and came back home. Soda came home later that day, but he was worse. He came home with a bruise on the right side of his face. Darry saw it and was furious. "What happened?!" He yelled at Soda.

Soda was in a worse mood then yesterday. "Socs." Was all he said, but I had a feeling that he was lying.

XXX

Since I get done with school before Soda gets done with work, I decided to stop at the DX after school today. I went by myself. What I saw was shocking. I was still at a distance but I could see what was going on. Soda was talking to random kids that looked to be about his age. Some stood with him, while he was arguing with others. There were four standing with Soda, and six that were against him.

They started fighting. That's how Soda got his bruise yesterday.

I don't know why but I ran to the fight. Soda was able to look at me at the same time I looked at him. He looked furious at me. I helped Soda's group, so it was six against six. We were winning, and so the other group ran. When they were gone, Soda turned on me.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" He yelled at me.

"I was helping you Soda!" I yelled back. One of Soda's friends asked Soda who I was.

Soda looked at them. "He's my kid brother."

Some of them snickered. "Why don't you tell him to go home or something? We don't want him here."

Soda looked at me furiously again. I didn't know why he was so upset.

"If you tell Darry what happened here, I'll skin you." He said to me in a menacing voice, before grabbing my arm very tightly. He started pulling me down the sidewalk towards our house. I could hear some of his friends snickering in the background.

When we were far enough away from his friends, he let my arm go, but he was still upset. "Soda, who are they?" I asked him. He glared at me. "You don't need to know. And if I find out that you told Darry, you'll hurt more then you do now."

That freaked me out a bit. Soda had changed completely. The one person I trusted the most seemed like he hated me.

"Soda?" I tried to look him in the eyes. "What happened to you?"

He stopped walking and looked at me. The anger in his eyes flickered a bit and I saw sadness in his eyes. I saw a bit of joy and comfort. I saw a bit of the real Sodapop. It quickly turned back to anger and he continued walking. "Nothing." He said as we entered the house.

Nothing.

He expected me to believe that it was nothing.

Darry wasn't home when we got there so we went into the bathroom and cleaned the cuts. We also tried to cover some of the bruises. When Darry did get home, he didn't notice anything. I was relieved.

XXX

The next few days, Soda and I didn't talk much. He was really changing. We only talked when we really needed to. I didn't tell Soda, but after school, I would sometimes secretly watch him and his 'friends' at the DX. The people that fought him didn't come around. Him and the other kids would hang out and stuff. Sometimes they'd drink, and Soda would come home a bit drunk. He'd just tell Darry that he went to hang with Two-bit or went to the dingo or something.

If they did anything else, I was going to tell Darry. I didn't care if Soda hurt me though. I knew that he was better then this.

The days went on, and Soda got worse. He was starting to be mean to me at home now as well. He was only mean when Darry wasn't around. When Steve called me stuff, Soda no longer cared. When I called Steve stuff, Soda was furious with me. I didn't get it.

I thought Soda loved me.

Apparently, he didn't.


	2. Chapter 1 He Deserves a Second Chance

**Chapter 1**

Ponyboy's POV

The next day, Sodapop told me something that I never wanted to hear. He looked me in the eyes when he said it. "I don't think we should share a room anymore. I think you should go back to your own room."

I gasped and just stared at him. "But Soda I-" I tried to protest, but he cut me off.

"I think it's time Pony. You should grow up and be in your own room. Plus, what would my friends think if they found out I share my room with my little brother?"

Wow that hurt. I shrugged. "Does it matter what they think?"

He glared at me and said "No. It doesn't. The truth is… I want my own room. I want you out." And with that, he walked away and went out the front door. I watched him walk away with watery eyes. I looked at my room. It was dark and cold in my opinion. It was lonely. I grabbed some of my stuff out of what was now 'Soda's' room and put it in mine. There was already a bed and blanket in there. I haven't been in there for a while.

After a few minutes of being alone in my room, I decided that I needed some fresh air. It was a Saturday and so I asked Darry if I could go out.

He said I could as long as I was back by suppertime.

I went out the front door and just started walking around. I found myself wandering towards the DX and decided to go and check it out. I found Soda and Steve there, with Soda's 'friends'. It looked like they were drinking again, and that's when I decided to step in. They drank before, but I wanted that to stop today. Soda was better than this. I knew he was.

"Soda, what are you doing?!" I yelled and went over by him. Soda looked furious, even more furious than Steve.

"Pony what are you doing here?" Steve asked, his breath smelling like alcohol.

"Soda, tell your brother to go away." One of his friends told him. Soda grabbed me harshly by the arm and dragged me aside. I had to admit that I was a bit scared. He was drunk. Soda never hurt me before, but he wasn't Soda right now. Right now he was drunk and mean, and I was scared of him. But I didn't show it.

"What are you doing here?!" He whispered to me menacingly. "Can't you see I'm having fun with my friends? Can you stop coming over here and ruining it?!" His breath also smelled strongly of alcohol.

"Soda why are you drinking?" I asked calmly, standing my ground and not backing down.

He glared again. "I'm warning you now Ponyboy. Stay out of it. And if you tell Darry, you'll be sorry." He growled to me. He started to turn around but I grabbed his arm and yanked him back. "Soda stop!" I yelled, but I regret it. He whipped around and punched me right in the face. My nose started to bleed, and it was bad. I put my hands over it and tried to stop the bleeding. "Soda!" Steve yelled and ran towards me. "Why did you do that?!" Soda just shrugged and his friends laughed and high-fived him.

Steve reached his hand forward to look at my nose, but I quickly shot up and took off running. "Pony!" Steve yelled and tried chasing me. He was stumbling because he was drunk. He didn't catch me though. I just ran. I slowed down a bit when I didn't hear his footsteps behind me any more.

I'm not sure how this happened, but I found Two-bit just walking the streets, and ran to him. He saw me and gasped. "Pony, what happened?!"

"I'll tell you later. Can you help me clean it up?"

Two-bit nodded and took me to his house. The house was empty so he took me to the bathroom.

"Pony what happened to your face?!" He started examining my nose and cleaning up the blood. My eyes got watery as I said, "Soda."

Two-bit gasped. "Why did he punch you?"

"I caught him drinking at the DX with Steve and some friends"

"Are you going to tell Darry?"

I shook my head.

"Why not Pony? Darry needs to know."  
"I know, but I'm going to give Soda a second chance. He deserves a second chance."  
Two-bit looked at me unconvinced. "If you don't tell on him, he may just get worse."

I knew Two-bit was right, but I wanted to give Soda a second chance. "Two-bit, can you help me cover for Soda? Can you come home with me and tell Darry that the socs did it?"

Two-bit took a deep breath. "I guess Pony, if you really want me to." I smiled a bit, and thought for a second. I thought to myself, 'If I don't have Soda, I have Two-bit.'

Two-bit walked me home after my nose stopped bleeding. Soda was there, along with Darry. Two-bit looked Soda in the eye, and sort of glared. Darry didn't catch that though.

Darry saw my face and stood up, going over to me and Two-bit. "What happened to you this time?!" Darry asked me.

"I'm fine Darry. It was just a couple of socs."

Darry looked to Two-bit and asked if that was correct. Two-bit glared at Soda as he said, "Yeah. He got hit by a socs. Pony and I ganged up on him and her an away."

Darry nodded. Soda just continued to stare, showing no remorse, no sadness, no anger, nothing. His face was expressionless.

I looked at Soda one last time that night, before going to my room, and that's all it was. It wasn't our room. It was only mine.

I collapsed on the bed and silently cried into my pillow. I hoped that Soda would stop hanging around with his friends. They did him no good. I didn't want Soda to turn into one of them.

I soon fell asleep, but woke up due to a nightmare.


	3. Chapter 2 Nothing Gold Can Stay

**Chapter 2**

Ponyboy's POV

I woke up screaming. I was drenched in sweat and I was shaking. I was crying and screaming. I screamed for Soda and Darry, but nobody came. I screamed some more, and Darry ended up coming instead of Soda. "What are you doing in here?" He asked me and sat next to me on the bed. He wrapped his arms around me and cradled me to his chest while I continued to sob.

"Pony, why are you in here?" He asked while trying to calm me down.

"S-Soda didn't w-want me i-in his room n-no m-more." I sobbed into his chest. He hugged me a bit tighter and rested his chin on top of my head.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to go talk to him." I nodded and he set me on the bed while he got up and went into Soda's room. He came back a few minutes later and sat next to me again.

"Soda said that you told him that you wanted to sleep in here, and he said okay."

I shook my head and said quietly, "H-he's lying Dar. I hate i-it in h-here."

"Wanna sleep by me tonight?"

I nodded. I felt him shift a bit on the bed. Than I felt a strong pair of arms gently lift me up as he carried me to his room. He set me on his bed and I curled up under the blankets. He threw his arm over my chest the same way Soda used to, and pulled my back to his chest.

"Goodnight Pony."

"Goodnight Darry." I said, then fell asleep.

XXX

When I woke up, I heard voices. I opened my eyes and noticed that I was alone in the bed, and that the voices were coming from the kitchen. I realised that it was Darry and Soda, arguing.

"Did he lie to me or did you Soda?!"

"I didn't lie to you Darry!' I heard Soda yell.

"Well, I know that Pony hates sleeping in his room. I know that he wouldn't just choose to sleep in there!" Darry yelled back.

I got up and slowly crept out of the room and into the hallway, still listening to my brothers' conversation.

"Fine, you want the truth?! I don't want to share a room with him any more Darry! I'm too old for that now! I don't want or need him in my room!"

That hurt a lot.

I heard Darry gasp. "So you did lie to me. That's it Soda, you're grounded for a week. I'm disappointed in you Sodapop." I heard footsteps and knew that Darry had walked away from Soda. That's when I decided to come out. I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Darry was now making breakfast.

I looked at Soda, and he looked back at me with sad eyes. Maybe Soda did feel bad. Maybe he did love me now.

"Hey Pony can I talk to you for a second?" Soda asked me and pointed to his room. I nodded and got up, following him into his room.

He closed the door behind me and turned to face me, only now his eyes burned with rage. Pure rage. Suddenly, I felt his hand come into contact with my face. I fell backwards but landed on his bed. I put my hand on the side of my face, hoping it wasn't red. That was the first time Soda had ever hit me.

"What is the matter with you?! I made plans with my friends, and you just had to get me grounded?!" He yelled, but not loud enough for Darry to hear.

"I didn't ground you, Darry did! And when you punched me, I covered for you! I didn't want you to get in trouble Soda! I'm really sorry." He looked at me again. "Yeah, well I did get in trouble, so you better be sorry."

He opened the door and went back into the kitchen, and I followed. Darry didn't notice my face which meant it probably wasn't that red.

After that incident, the rest of the day was pretty normal. I ate breakfast and went to school.

XXX

A week had gone by, and Soda was ungrounded. Other then that, it was a pretty normal day.

After school was over, I decided to go to the DX. I wanted to see what Soda was up to today with his 'friends' hoping it was nothing major. But when I saw them, I stopped and gasped.

It looked like they were doing drugs.

That was the final straw for me. I went over to them, ignoring the annoyed faces that the other teenagers gave me. When Soda saw me, he looked just as mad as he had when he hit me.

"Soda why are you doing this?!" I yelled at him."You gotta stop!"

Soda smirked at me. "Oh yeah? And why's that?"

"If you don't, I'll tell Darry!" I yelled.

He grabbed me harshly by the chin and forced me to look at him. "Don't you dare tell Darry! If you do, I'll do way more then just slap you." He growled, and with that, he walked back to his friends, ignoring the fact that I just stood there, staring at him in complete denial.

His friends noticed me. One said to me, "Beat it runt. No one wants you here." Another said, "Get lost. He doesn't need you anymore. He has us. He doesn't love you either." That gained some laughs. I was surprised to see that Soda wasn't laughing, but didn't look sorry either. Steve gave me a sad look. He wasn't laughing either.

My eyes got watery and I turned around. I made the decision that I was going to tell Darry what Soda was doing. Darry had to know. This was going too far. On my way home, I stopped at the park, and went by the fountain. I ran my hand through the water, and whispered, "I miss you guys. Johnny, Dally, why'd you have to die?"

I choked back a sob and said, "Why couldn't it have been me?" I stared at the water in the fountain, gleaming with the reflection of the sky.

"Nothing Gold Can Stay." I whispered, before walking home.


	4. Chapter 3 Ease Dropping

**Chapter 3**

When I walked in through the front door, I was surprised to find Sodapop and Darry talking at the kitchen table. When they saw me, Darry stood up, furious. Soda looked at me, and smirked. I had no idea what was going on.

"What the hell is wrong with you Ponyboy?!" Darry shouted at me. I looked at him and took a step back. "W-what did I do?" I asked him.

Darry's eyes flickered from anger to sadness and back again. "Don't play dumb Ponyboy! Sodapop told me what you did. Did you really think that you'd get away with it?!" He bellowed. I took another step back.

"What did I do?!" I yelled. Darry took a step towards me. "Soda showed me the drugs. Why'd you do it?!" he yelled. "You're grounded little buddy!" Darry hollered.

I suddenly looked to Soda, who was still smirking at me. He looked a bit sad, but not much.

"So it's true…" I whispered sadly. "Your friends were right! You really don't love me!" And with that, I ran to my room and locked the door. I cried myself to sleep.

XXX

I got up the next morning and unlocked my bedroom door. Soda and darry were both up. Soda smirked at me and Darry didn't look at me at all. Neither one of my brothers talked to me while we were eating, but they talked to each other.

I sighed. The reason I didn't tell Darry that Soda set me up was because I didn't want Soda to get into trouble. If he got into trouble, he'd hurt me more. So, I willingly took the blame.

I went to school that day and came straight home. I wasn't allowed to go anywhere other than school and back. Sometimes I'd go by the DX, but not much.

A few days went by, and I was no longer grounded. Soda was a bit unhappy, but that was fine by me at the moment. I was mad at him.

XXX

I had stopped by the DX. Of course, Soda and Steve were talking to the other kids. They were all happy though, so I ease dropped.

Soda said, "What time?"

Someone said, "9 o'clock?" Everyone else nodded.

"Where?" Steve asked this.

The same person pointed in a direction. "That way there is an old building next to a road. Follow that road until it meets up with a bigger road. That bigger road will be the one we will use."

Soda smilled. "This is going to be the best drag race ever."

Pony wanted to go. He didn't know why, but he wanted to make sure Soda was safe. He quickly ran home. Since it was a Friday night, he hoped that Darry would let him out. He was happy when he found Darry at home by himself.

"Hey Darry?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I go the drive-in at 9?" I lied.

"Pony, I'm still a little upset about the drugs." 'Oh how I wish so bad to tell you I didn't do them' I thought.

"But you already grounded me Dar. Please?" I gave him the puppy dog eyes.

He sighed. "All right, but don't be gone all night, got that?" I nodded and ran to my room. Now I was excited.

XXX

8 o'clock rolled around, and I asked Darry if I could leave.

"I thought you said it started at 9?"  
"I did, but I wanna get good seats."

Darry nodded. "Okay. Well, have fun." He smiled and waved at me. I did the same thing to him and left.

"This is going to be fun to watch." I told myself, and started on my way.


	5. Chapter 4 Feeling Numb

**Chapter 4**

Ponyboy POV

I started walking to the place where the drag race was going to be held. Cars started passing me and I realised that it was Soda, Steve, and their friends. There were a few cars. I had to admit that some of them were pretty tuff.

I got to the place and sat down on the side of the road, waiting for the races to start.

"Wha- Ponyboy!" Someone yelled. I looked over and saw Sodapop stumbling over to me with a few of his friends following him, disgusted looks on their faces.

"Oh hey Soda." I said, and waved at him.

"What are you doing here?" He growled. "You better go home now or I'll make sure Darry knows about this." His friends chuckled a bit.

I ignored his second question and answered the first. "What does it look like I'm doing?" I replied in the same tone he talked to me with. "I'm here for a drag race."

He looked angry, but then something lit up in his eyes, and he smirked.

"Why don't you be apart of it?" He snickered.

"N-no Soda, I think I'll just watch."

"Come-on. It'll be fun." He smirked again.

"No Soda, you guys are drunk. I think I'll stay here."

"Don't be a chicken." Soda growled. That hit me hard, but i don't know why.

"Fine." I said, standing up. "But only one."

Soda smirked and pointed to his friend. "You're riding with Mark."

I nodded, and he said, "I'll ride with Steve." He slurred his words a bit, making me nervous again.

We got into the cars. The car I was in had no seat belts for the passenger, making me more nervous. I could tell that Mark was drunk. Steve was driving the other car and Soda was the passenger.

Mark looked over at me. "You ready kid?"

I looked at him nervously and nodded, looking back ahead at the road. Steve gave us a thumbs up, making sure we were ready. We gave him one back. That's when the countdown started.

 _3_

 _Mark put a foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator._

 _2_

 _Mark pressed down on the accelerator and slowly applied more force._

 _1_

 _The car tires squealed and smoke came up, causing me to couch. It smelled horrible. Mark was burning rubber._

 _GO!_

Mark took his foot off of the brake at the same time Steve did. Both cars suddenly started moving at high speeds. Both cars were going pretty good. We started off right next to one another. It was actually pretty fun.

I looked at how fast we were going. We were almost going 150. I started yelling and hollering, completely enjoying myself. I watched Steve's car race next to ours as a smile spread across my face. This really was fun. I looked at Mark when I heard a popping noise. Apparently he heard it too, because he started swearing. I didn't know what it was, but I knew that he did.

"It's the tire!" He yelled. He took his foot off of the accelerator and slammed on the brakes. The car started to swerve and we hit the wall on the side of the track. The car turned sideways and we started doing flips. I wasn't wearing a seat belt. I felt myself fling through glass and land on the road. I laid there, unmoving.

Pain.

All I felt was pain.

I heard people calling my name, but they sounded so distant.

"...Ponyboy…"

"...911..."

"...Called the ambulance…"

"...hold on…"

"...be here soon…"

I felt like I was floating for a second. I felt the pain, but it was going away. I was becoming numb. I felt hands trying to move me somewhere, but I didn't know where. I just felt so numb…

Everything went dark.

And then there was nothing.


	6. Chapter 5 He wasn't Wearing His Seatbelt

**Chapter 5**

Steve's POV

I watched Mark and Pony's car out of the corner of my eye. We were mainly tie, both cars going together. Suddenly Mark yelled something, and his car started swerving. They hit the wall, and so I stepped on the break. Soda was watching their car with wide eyes.

Our car came to a stop. I got out and saw their car doing flips. I felt myself go pale. Glass and debris went flying everywhere. Someone flew out of the car and landed on the road. They made no movement. I thought that the person was dead. I ran to them. I recognized the person to be Ponyboy and it felt like my heart skipped a beat.

I crouched down next to him as some of Soda's friends came rushing over as well. I started talking to him.

"Come-on Ponyboy, don't you die on me now." I checked his pulse. He had one and I felt better. "Someone call 911!" I screamed, and saw one of Soda's friends do it. I looked at the car, and saw Soda helping Mark out. Mark just had bad cuts and bruises… He was wearing a seatbelt…

Soda's friend said, "I called the ambulance. They said that they'd be here soon."

I nodded and looked at Ponyboy. He was breathing weird and he was bleeding bad.

"Come on buddy, you gotta hold on. Just hold on for a little longer. Come on Ponyboy, don't you die on me now!" I started shaking. I was scared.

I gently maneuvered him so I could pick him up. I gently picked him up off of the road and set him on the grass. Mark limped over by us while Sodapop stumbled. I couldn't help but blame Soda for what happened to Pony. Pony didn't want to go… But Soda made him... Now he could be dying.

An ambulance came and they took Ponyboy and Mark to the hospital. The rest of us all left in a car. Instead of going to the hospital, I went to the Curtis' house. I told everyone, even Soda, to stay in the car while I went in and talked to Darry.

The door was unlocked and so I opened it. Darry was suddenly there, yelling "Ponyboy, wh-" But he stopped when he saw me.

"Steve?" He asked, in shock.

"Hey Darry." I said, unsure of what to say.

"Where's Pony?" Darry asked. "He should have been back from the movies hours ago."

I paled again. Darry didn't even know that Pony was at a drag race instead of the movies.

"D-Darry, something bad happened to Pony."

Darry looked at me, waiting for me to continue.

"He wasn't at the movies Dar… He was at a drag race."

Darry gasped, probably getting an idea of what happened to Pony. He paled, just like I did.

"His car sort of… Flipped, Dar." I stopped and took a deep breath before I continued. "He wasn't wearing a seat belt."

"Let's go then!" Darry yelled. He grabbed his keys and jumped into his car while I jumped into the one I came in, and we took off towards the hospital.

XXX

When we got there, we all had to wait in the waiting room. A few hours later, a nurse came out to us.

"Family of Ponyboy Curtis?"

Darry and I stood up. Soda, who was sleeping, and his friends didn't. I shook Soda and he woke up a little, before slowly standing up too.

"How is he?" Darry asked the nurse.

"He was pretty bad when you brought him. He has many cuts and he lost a lot of blood. He was wheezing because one of his ribs broke and was cutting a bit of his lung. We fixed his lung but he still has a lot of broken bones. I'd say that you can bring him home in a few weeks."

"Can we see him?"

"Yes. Room 378. He might wake up in a few minutes also."

Darry, Soda, and I rushed to his room, Soda was the slowest because he was tired and he was stumbling.

We got to his room and opened the door to find Ponyboy awake. He was laying down on the bed but his eyes were open. He was pale and he had cuts everywhere. The glass cut him pretty good when he went through the windshield. He had bandages all over his chest and ribs. The three of us filed into his room, and Sodapop surprised me. The first thing he did when he saw Pony was yell.

He yelled, "What the hell Ponyboy?! What were you thinking?! Why did you want to enter that race? I told you not to!" I started to get mad.

Pony looked at Soda with scared, wide eyes. "Please don't hit me again Soda!" Pony cried out. I gasped. I never knew he hurt Ponyboy by hitting him. Soda's eyes went from mad to burning with rage. Soda was mad, Pony was scared, and I was worried… For the both of them.


	7. Chapter 6 You'll be Sorry

**Chapter 6**

Anyone POV

Darry heard what Pony said and looked at Soda with questioning eyes. Soda's eyes showed nothing but anger, but then they flickered for a second, revealing sadness and a little bit of anger. Soda tried to play innocent though.

"What are you talking about Ponyboy? I never hit you."

Ponyboy looked Sodapop in the eyes and asked calmly, "Why are you doing this?"

Soda just stared at Ponyboy, his face now blank. Darry broke the silence next. He said, "Soda, can I talk to you for a bit out in the hall?" Soda nodded and followed Darry out of the room, closing the door gently behind him.

Steve looked at Pony sadly. He asked Pony, "Did he really hit you?"  
Ponyboy's eyes got watery and he looked at the door. Steve looked at the door too and looked back at Ponyboy, voicing his thoughts. "Soda can't hear you."

Pony calmed down a bit and said softly, "Yeah. He did hit me."

Steve gasped a bit. He didn't doubt it though. He remembered when Soda had punched him in the face. Steve felt bad for Pony. Ponyboy and Steve both knew that something was wrong with Soda.

"Why did he hit you?" Steve asked.

"He lied to Darry. I told Darry the truth. Soda got grounded, took me into his room, and hit me."

"What did he lie about?"

Pony's eyes got watery again. "H-he told me that he didn't want me in his room anymore, so I went back into my old room. Darry asked Soda why I went in there, and Soda said I wanted to. I told Darry that I didn't want to. Soda got grounded… And so he hit me."

Steve looked at Pony sadly. "Hey kid, I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but I-" He was cut off by the door opening and Soda and Darry coming back in.

"How are you feeling little buddy?" Darry asked Pony.

"I hurt." Ponyboy said plainly. Darry looked a bit upset. "Why did you lie to me Ponyboy?! You told me that you were going to the movies!"

Ponyboy looked down, sad. "I wanted to make sure Soda was safe."

Darry turned on Soda. "How did he know about the drag race?"

Pony answered for Soda. "I heard them talking at the DX. I wanted to make sure Soda was safe."

"Well Pony, if you would have told me, I might have went with you." Darry said, and Ponyboy just nodded sadly.

Soda looked mad again. "Why aren't you grounding him for lying? You grounded me!"

"He lied to protect you Sodapop. You lied to hurt him… What happened to you Soda?"

"Nothing." Soda spat out.

Darry looked at Pony. "I would ground you for entering that race, but I think the hospital is enough punishment."

Pony looked hurt, but surprisingly, Steve stood up for Pony. "He didn't want to enter the race though Darry. He really didn't want to."

Darry looked confused and looked between Soda and Pony. "Is that true Ponyboy?" Pony looked at Sodapop. Soda saw Pony looking at him and glared, warning him not to say anything. Ponyboy ignored Soda though and looked back at Darry. "Yeah it is. Soda told me to. I didn't want to."

Darry looked at Soda. "I-" but he was cut off as a nurse came into the room.

"Visiting hours are almost up. Ponyboy will be able to go home in a few days though."

Darry nodded and went over by Ponyboy. He bent down and gave him a hug. "I love you little buddy." Pony smiled at Darry's words. "I love you too."

Steve gave Pony a hug too and told him to get well soon.

Pony stiffened up though as he saw Soda walk over to him. Soda gave Pony a hug as well, but whispered in his ear before leaving, "You'll be sorry."


	8. Chapter 7 I Told You You'd be Sorry

**Chapter 7**

Ponyboy's POV

A week or so went by, and I was able to go home. I still had to wear bandages and I still had cuts, but they were getting better. Soda was acting nice to me though, so I thought maybe Darry said something to him, but I didn't know. Soda glared at me every now and then, but it wasn't too bad. I had to admit though, I was scared of him.

XXX

I went to the DX after school, but I immediately regretted it. Soda saw me looking at him. He started at me for a second, and I stared back, until he started walking towards me. I quickly turned around and tried running, but I tripped on something. By the time the pain in my ribs was gone and I got back up, it was too late. Soda caught up to me.

He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to my feet, dragging me back to his friends. "Soda please stop. What happened to you?! Why do you hate me?!"

He stopped and looked at me. The anger was gone and replaced by sadness. He looked ready to cry. He said, "Because they do."

I saw the faces of Soda's friends. Some of them were pointing at me. They were snickering and laughing.

Soda looked at me with sad eyes as he let go of my arm and stood over by Steve.

"I told you you'd be sorry." Soda mouthed out to me. One of Soda's friends yelled out "Get him!"

Soda looked at his friends. As he did so, the sadness in his eyes slowly turned to anger. Was he mad at them or me?

It didn't matter who he was mad at. Either way, he was taking his anger out on me.

He started hitting me an kicking me. I saw Steve try to stop Soda by holding onto him, but it didn't work. I saw Soda's eyes. Yet again, they were filled with rage. I just didn't know who he was mad at.

After that, I blacked out.

Steve's POV

"I told you you'd be sorry." I saw Soda mouth to Ponyboy. When did he say that? I was distracted by someone yelling "Get him!" Soda looked at his friends and became angry. That made me happy. I thought he wasn't going to listen to them.

Soda suddenly started hitting and kicking Ponyboy. Pony fell to the ground and curled into a ball. I grabbed Soda and tried to pull him backwards, but I couldn't do it. Soda was too strong. He was mad again too. He finally stopped when Pony blacked out. One of his friends said, "He's such a wimp. That was nothing compared to a beating, and he just passed out?!"

"Shut up!" I hollered and punched the kid. I guess I was just angry.

"Soda why'd you do that?!"He looked sad and angry. "Tell Darry the socs did it. I gotta talk to Pony later." I gasped and lost it. "Soda you gotta stop doing these things to Pony! Don't you realise that these things could end up killing him?!"

Soda just shrugged. "Go Steve. I'll talk to him later." I sighed out of anger. I really felt bad for Pony. He didn't deserve this. I know we don't always get along, but I still cared for him.

I bent down and gently rolled Ponyboy over so he was laying on his back. I gently picked him up and started for the Curtis house.

The moment I got ponyboy into the house, Darry was there, angry. "What happened to him now?!"

"It was So-" I caught myself mid-sentence. "It was the socs Dar. I was walking home from work and saw him getting beat."

I said that because I felt like I could believe Soda. I wanted to give him a chance to make it up to Ponyboy.

"Here I got him. Thanks for bringing him home Steve." He held out his arms and I gently handed Pony to him.

I hope Soda makes it up to him. He didn't deserve what he got.


	9. Chapter 8 Pony Still Loves Soda

**Chapter 8**

Darry POV

I took Pony from Steve's arms and put him on his bed. I gently pressed down on his ribs and felt relieved when I didn't feel any broken ones. I lifted up his shirt and started cleaning his wounds with the first aid kit. Steve stayed in the living room, but when I heard the front door open and close I stood up and went into the living room.

Soda was home.

"Hey Soda, how was work?" I knew that Soda had changed. He wasn't his happy self, but I didn't know why.

"Fine." He mumbled, and went into his room. I sighed and went back to fixing up Ponyboy. When I was done, I covered him up with his blanket and left the room.

"Steve, have you noticed that Soda is changing?" Steve nodded his head but told me that he didn't know why.

"That day in the hospital… Did Pony tell you anything about Soda hitting him?"

Steve froze for a second but then nodded.

"Soda told me that he didn't hit Pony and that Pony was making it up." I said.

Steve shook his head. "Pony said that Soda hit him when Soda was grounded."

I nodded. "I had a feeling that Soda was lying again. But I'm finding it hard to trust Ponyboy now too."

"Why?"

"Pony lied to me too."

"He did? About what?"

"He told me that he wasn't doing drugs when I caught him. There were some in his room. Soda caught him doing them."

Steve gasped a bit. "Darry? Ponyboy wasn't lying. He wasn't doing drugs… Soda was."

I stood up. "What?! Then why were their drugs in Pony's room?!"

Steve said quietly, "I bet Soda set him up."

"Then why did Ponyboy willingly take the blame?"

"He was probably scared that Soda would get mad at him or something."

I felt so bad. I had grounded Ponyboy for something that Sodapop did. I heard a weird noise come from Pony's room. Steve must have heard it too because he stood up. He started walking to Pony's room, but I stopped him.

"You go to Soda's room. I got Pony." He nodded then went into Soda's room. Soda was still in there.

I went into Pony's room. He was laying on his bed. His eyes were closed but there were tear tracks running down his face. He was silently crying.

"Pony?"

That startled him a bit and he looked at me. "Hey Dar."

"Pony what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

He cried a it more. "It hurts Dar."

"Something in specific or all of it?"

"All of it, but mainly my stomach."

I sat down on the bed next to him. "Want me to look at it?" He nodded. I gently lifted up his shirt and gasped. There was a deep gash that he got from the car accident. It had opened up, and some of the skin around it was bluish purple.

I gently pressed on some of the skin around it, and he yelped.

"I'm going to stitch it up. If it's worse by tomorrow, I'm taking you to a doctor."

He just nodded his head and closed his eyes. I grabbed the first aid kit and started stitching him up.

When I was done, Pony asked me if I could sleep with him tonight.

"Sure little buddy." I laid down next to him and waited a few minutes before I asked, "Hey Pony? Can I talk to you for a second?" I felt him nod his head.

"Did you do the drugs, or did Soda? This time I want the truth Pony." I felt him tense up a bit, as if scared of something.

"Pony, Soda can't hear us."

"S-Soda did them. Please don't yell at him Darry."

"Why not little buddy?"

"I-If you yell at him, he'll yell at me."

I thought about what he had said for a minute. How much went on between Pony and Soda that I didn't know about?

"Pony, what happened between you and Soda?"

Pony shrugged. "I guess that he just… Stopped loving me."

"Ponyboy, I'd doubt that he'd just stop loving you."

"Well, he acts like he doesn't love me."

"What does he do?"

Pony shrugged again. "He does a lot of stuff. Watch closely when he's around me. You'll see."

Pony sounded heartbroken. He was making me sad.

"Do you love him?"

Pony nodded. "With all of my heart."

After Pony said that, he fell asleep. I wrapped an arm around him and held him close. From now on, I'd keep an eye on him and Soda… Especially when they're together.


	10. Chapter 9 Buck's

**Chapter 9**

Anyone's POV

The next morning, Ponyboy's stomach felt better. It was still sore, but not as much as last night. Pony got out of bed and walked inth the kitchen to see that Sodapop and Darry were already up.

"Hey." Pony said. "Hey Pony." Darry said back and smiled, while Soda just gave him a small nod. Pony didn't know what to say, so he asked, "How was work?"

Darry smiled and told him about work while Soda just glared at him. Pony ignored Darry, who was still talking, and thought for a second. He needed to talk to Soda. He needed Soda to open up. Pony looked at the bedrooms, remembering the last time he had tried to talk to Soda.

Soda hit him last time, but Pony needed him to open up, so he was willing to try again.

When Darry was done talking, Pony said, "Hey Soda, can I talk to you for a second?"

Soda looked annoyed but followed Ponyboy into his bedroom. He shut the door behind him too. Pony sat on the bed, and Soda sat next to him.

"Soda, I know something happened to you, and don't tel me that it's nothing. I now that it's something. Please tell me what's wrong."

"No." Soda said angrily.

"Soda why can't you tell me? I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."

Soda glared at him. "Maybe I don't want your help. Ever think of that?"

Pony's eyes watered as he looked at Soda, and asked, "Soda? Why do you hate me?"

Soda's eyes flashed between anger and sadness yet again. "I don't hate you Pony..." Soda said out of pure sadness. Soda looked away as a tear leaked from his eye.

"Then why are you doing this?"

Soda stood up suddenly. "Because."

"Because why?"

"You don't get it." Soda said, and started walking towards the door.

"Then tell me." Pony pleaded. He reached out and grabbed Soda's arm. Soda did what he did last time though. He whipped around and slapped Pony in the face again. Tears rolled down Soda's face as he opened the door and ran out of the room and out the front door.

Ponyboy got up and followed him.

 _Sodapop's POV_

I ran to the DX. I'm not sure why though. Why was I hurting Pony? He didn't do anything to me... but that's when I realized that that was the reason why I was hurting him. He didn't fight back, and so it was easier for me to take my anger out on him. I felt so bad though.

I met my friends at the DX. They saw me, and my friend Greg asked, "Soda, you okay?"

I got my breath back and said, "I hit him. I hit Pony."

My other friend Jim smiled. "The runt deserved it. That ought to teach him to stay away."

"I didn't mean to though."

"Soda, if you don't be mean to him, he'll never learn to leave you alone. He has no right coming over here." I sighed and Greg said, "Hey, I've got an idea. Let's go to Buck's. Get out and live a little. Have a drink or two and have some fun."

"Guys, I really don't think I can. I'm not allowed to go over there."

Jim smirked. "No one will know."

The next thing I knew, we started walking over to Buck's.

 _Ponyboy's POV_

I heard the entire conversation. Soda and his friends were going to Buck's. Soda knew he wasn't allowed to go there. I don't know why, but I followed. I saw them enter, and waited a few more minutes before entering myself. I was met by Buck though, and I knew that he was drunk.

"Hey kid, aren't you a little too young to be here?" He slurred.

"Come on Buck, let me in."

Buck sighed but ended up letting me in. I looked around the place. I was actually a bit nervous. There were people laughing, playing pool, drinking, and so on. I saw Soda and his group, so I just watched them, making sure that they didn't see me. They were drinking. Soda and a couple other ones were drunk.

I was watching them, in mid-thought, when I heard, "Ponyboy?!"

I jumped and turned around to see Two-bit there as well, looking at me and walking towards me.

"Hey Two-bit."

"What are you doing here?"

"Watching Soda."

He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the front door. "Kid, you know that you're not aloud to be here. If Darry found out that I let you stay, I'd get my head kicked in."

"But Soda's there."

Two-bit let go of my arm as we left Buck's place and looked at me sadly. "Kid, what happened between Soda? And... Just because he goes doesn't mean that you have to follow. I don't even know if he went in there. I didn't see him."

I sighed sadly, knowing that Two-bit was right.

He asked, "What happened to you? Why are you covered in cuts and bruises?"

"The cuts are from a drag race. The bruises are from Soda." I looked down sadly as Two-bit gasped.

"What happened at the drag race?"

"Well... I was in the passenger seat, and there were no seat belts for the passenger seat. Something on our car popped. We hit the wall and we just... Started doing flips. I was thrown from the car due to the seat belt situation. I landed on the road... The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital."

"Why would you enter that drag race Pony?"

"Soda told me too." I said sadly.

"Why would he tell you to?"

I shrugged. "He was drunk. He was mad. he wanted me to."

"And why did he beat you up like that?"

"Don't ask me." I told him, as my house came into view. "Two-bit? Are you going to tell Darry where I was?"

Two-bit looked at me with a sad look before nodding. "He needs to now where you were Pony. I'm sorry."

"Two-bit? Can you not tell Darry about Soda being there as well? I don't want Darry to know that Soda was there."

"Why not Pony?"

"Soda... Soda will blame me for getting in trouble."

Two-bit looked at me and said, "Darry won't let that happen."

"Two-bit," I said as I looked him in the eyes. "Darry might try to help me... but he can't see everything."

Two-bit looked at me with sad eyes again before saying, "Fine, but we'll hint that Soda was there. You tell Darry that Soda was there... And I'll say that he wasn't."

I nodded. I know that Two-bit doesn't want me to get hurt by Soda, but he doesn't want me to get in trouble either. He knocked on the front door and Darry answered. "Hey Pony. Hey Two-bit. What have you guys been up to?"

"Darry, there's something you need to know." Two-bit said.

"What is it?"

"I... I found Ponyboy at Bucks."

I looked down as Darry suddenly turned angry.

"Pony, what's wrong with you?! You know that your not allowed to go to Buck's! What were you doing there?!"

"I'm sorry Darry, but Soda went there, and I followed."

"Yeah well, Two-bit didn't find Soda did he. He found you, when you know full well that you shouldn't be there!"

"I'm sorry Darry, but Soda wa-"

"I don't care what Soda was doing. He probably wasn't even there. And if he was, Two-bit would have seen him."

Darry looked at Two-bit and Two-bit looked at me as I looked down at the ground. I knew that Two-bit was going to tell Darry that Soda wasn't there, but I know that he was only protecting me from Soda. Darry asked Two-bit, "Was Soda there?"

Two-bit looked at me at the same time that I looked at him. His eyes got a bit watery, as he said, "No Darry. Soda wasn't there."

I gave Two-bit a little nod, as if telling him that he did the right thing. He looked down though as Darry started hollering at me.

"See Ponyboy, I told you. Your grounged little buddy. You lied to me too, saying that Soda was there. Your grounded for two weeks. Go to your room and come out when I call you for supper."

I nodded sadly and went to my room, hearing Darry and Two-bit talking. Two-bit left and I laid on my bed, waiting for supper time.


	11. Chapter 10 Soda's Abuse and Randy's Help

**Chapter 10**

Anyone POV

Soda finally came home, but he was drunk. Darry noticed this, and asked him about it. "Hey buddy, where were you?" darry asked.

"Oh, I was just hanging out." Soda said while slurring his words.

"With who? Or were you by yourself?"

"Hmm? No, I was hanging with Two-bit."

Darry looked at him for a second. "Funny, because Two-bit was at Buck's today, and came here to tell me that Pony was at Buck's looking for you." As soon as Darry said Pony, Soda's eyes flashed with anger.

Darry broke the silence. "So you wanna tell me the truth or get grounded as well?"

"As well? What do you mean as well? Who else was grounded?"

"Ponyboy, but you don't need to know why. Now where were you Sodapop, and I expect the truth this time."

"Fine. I went to the Dingo with some friends. Happy?" Sodapop lied.

Darry studied Sodapop carefully and realized that he was lying. "You didn't really go to the Dingo... Did you?"

Soda looked down. "No. But why was Pony at Buck's?" Soda was trying to play innocent.

"I think you know Sodapop. I bet that you went to Buck's with your so called friends, and Pony followed you. I know that Pony just wouldn't go there without a reason, and you're drunk."

"Fine." Sodapop said angrily. "I was at Buck's. It doesn't matter though Darry."

"Yes it does. There is something that I have to do now." Darry looked at Sodapop as he yelled out, "Pony!"

They waited for a response, but heard nothing. Darry walked to Pony's room. He found Pony's blankets all in a big bundle, with something underneath it. Darry smiled and sat down on the bed. He started tickling the blankets, but suddenly stopped when there was no movement. He pulled the covers back to reveal nothing but pillows. Ponyboy designed them so that they looked like a person.

That's when Darry finally saw the open window, and the note on the dresser. He got up and read the note.

* * *

 _Dear Sodapop and Darry,_

 _If you are reading this letter, it probably means that I'm gone. I'm really sorry I left. Please don't be mad. I know I'm grounded and all, but I guess that I just needed some fresh air to do some thinking. I'll be back later._

 _Ponyboy Curtis_

* * *

Darry took a deep breath and set the note down on the dresser. "Sodapop!" He called, and Sodapop stumbled into the room. He was really drunk. "Pony ran away, but he'll be back later."

"Okay, so what's the big problem?" Soda stated.

"The problem is that your brother just ran away. He's not the type of kid to do that Soda. Doesn't that mean anything to you? Don't you care?"

Soda just stared at Darry with blank eyes. His eyes held no emotion as he said, "He'll be back Dar. It's fine."

"Yeah well, I'll be right back. I know that he just needed some fresh air, but he's grounded, and I'm going to ground you later too for lying to me about Buck's. I'm going to go out and look for him for a bit. I don't feel comfortable with him out at this time wih the socs and all, okay? I'll be right back."

"Why do you gotta bring him here? Why can't you let him stay out for a bit?" Soda asked, and he sounded a bit annoyed.

Darry shot up from the bed. "You're little brother ran away, and you think it'sokay?! What happened to you Soda?!... Your not the Sodapop I remember."

"Your right. I'm not. Now are you satisfied?!" Soda asked with an edge to his tone. With that being said, Soda stumbled into his own room and shut the door.

Darry sighed it off and left in the truck, looking for Ponyboy.

 _Ponyboy's POV_

I didn't mean to run away, but I just needed to do some thinking. Something was up with Sodapop, but I didn't know what it was. I was snapped out of my thoughts by someone yelling, "Hey kid, wait up!"

I turned around to see Randy running towards me. He stopped when he got to me and got his breath back. "Hey kid, sorry if I frightened you. I just saw you walking and I was wondering if I could join you."

"Yeah sure Randy. You can join me. What are you doing out this late at night?"

"I could ask you the same question. I was just out getting some fresh air. What about you kid?"

"Same about me." I said. I didn't feel like telling him that I ran away at the moment. We started walking and talking. We just talked about random stuff. I'm not sure why, but I told him about Sodapop and the drag race.

"Well kid, if you ever need to get out of the house, you can come by me. I'll probably just hang around this area, or I'll be at my house."

"Okay. Thanks Randy. So, see you around?"

"Yup. See you around kid."

I walked back home, but the moment I got there, I regretted it.

Darry's truck was gone. I hoped that he wasn't out looking for me. If he was, I hoped that Soda was with him.

I opened the front door to find Sodapop sitting on the couch, drunk. He saw me and anger flashed in his eyes. "What the hell Ponyboy?! You just had to do that didn't you!" He stood up and stumbled over to me. I was scared.

"Do what Soda?" I asked calmly.

"You know what you did! You followed me to Buck's, and got me in trouble!"

"it wasn't like that Soda! I swear! Darry-" but he interrupted me.

"Oh I get it now. You're scared of me, aren't you! So you're blaming Darry, hoping I'll leave you alone, right?!"

"Soda no! I'm not blaming Darry! You're drunk Soda, can we talk about this later?"

Soda glared at me. "So you're scared of me now huh? You're scared of one brother and blame your problems on the other. What is wrong with you Ponyboy?!"

"I wasn't blaming Darry! Darry-" He slapped me across the face, and I fell to the floor.

"Stop lying Ponyboy! Stop blaming everything on Darry! Do you know how much he put aside for you?!"

Soda kicked me a few times, but I was able to get up and run out the front door. "Darry!" I screamed out into the night air, hoping he was close by and would come home.

"Darry's not here to protect you Pony. It's your own fault you know!"

I started running but didn't get very far. When Soda had kicked me, he had kicked a sensitive spot on my leg. He ended up catching me and started yelling and kicking me again.

Someone was suddenly yelling and grabbed Soda, pulling him off of me. I wasn't passed out, but I didn't feel like moving much, so I just lied there, shocked at what Soda had just done.

I looked over and saw Soda going back to the house. At the same time, I saw the person that had helped me.

It was Randy.


	12. Chapter 11 Soda's friends cause trouble

**Chapter 11**

 _Ponyboy's POV_

Randy crouched down next to me. "You okay Pony?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the help." I said, as I pushed myself up to my feet. Randy helped though.

"Why was your brother hurting you like that? I thought that you and him used to get along real well."

"We used to, but he changed. We don't no more."

"Yeah, I can see that." Randy chuckled a bit. "I punched him in the face before he left. His nose was bleeding pretty bad."

"Oh." I said sadly and looked at the ground. "He'll probably blame that on me."

Randy sighed. "Wanna walk around until you feel like going home?" I nodded, and we started walking around aimlessly. We didn't talk about that much, before I finally got the guts to go home.

"Thanks a ton randy. You saved my butt back there." Randy studied me fore a second and said, "How far do you think he would have gone if I wasn't there?"

I shrugged. "He was drunk, so there's no saying."

Randy looked at me sadly. "Well, I hope things between you and your brother get better. See you around Ponyboy." I waved to him, and started walking home. I didn't have any bruises on my arms, legs, or face. Soda was smart enough to only hit and kick me where the marks wouldn't show.

Darry's truck was there this time, and so I felt better about going in. I opened the front door, to fine Darry and Sodapop at the kitchen table. Darry was cleaning off Sodapop's nose, and they were talking in quiet voices. Darry saw me, and yelled, "What the heck Ponyboy?!"

I was still in the living room, but I took a step back. I was scared again. I knew why Darry was yelling at me, and so I just said, "I didn't hit him Darry."

"Well, someone did, and you two were home alone together. Clearly someone did. And he says that you did it Pony. You both changed. It's not just Sodapop. You're... You're different Ponyboy. You've changed too"

My eyes got watery and I shook my head. "That's not how it happened. You don't know the story Darry. That's not how it happened!" I started to yell as well but I didn't know why. Darry came into the living room as I took another step back.

"Pony, just sit down, and we can talk this over. I'm sure you didn't mean it." Darry reached out to me, but I jerked back. "Don't touch me." I stated and backed up a bit. Soda came into the living room too, but he was just staring at me with sad eyes that hinted at a bit of anger.

"Is this what you enjoy Soda? I covered for you. A while back, you punched me and made my nose bleed, not the Socs. You made me enter that drag race. You hit me in the bedroom. You set me up with the drugs after I caught you doing them, and I took the blame. You went to Buck's with your friends, yet I got grounded for trying to watch out for you. Today, you beat me up and Randy hit you... And you set me up."

I took another step back, and my back was to the front door. Darry gasped a bit, but took another step towards me. "Pony, you gotta speak up little buddy. Come sit down and we'll talk this out."

"No! I don't want to talk it out right now! Soda told me that i'm a pain to you, and I know I am, so I'm sorry! I won't bother you anymore!" I opened the front door, and looked at Soda. "I don't know why you're doing this, but I hope you're happy." I stood in the door frame for a second, looking at both of my brothers with watery eyes as the both looked back at me. "I _might_ be back later." I hissed, before running out of the house.

I heard their footsteps behind me, but I continued to run. My leg burned though, so I had to slow down. Darry was faster due to my leg, so he caught me by the arm.

He turned me around to face him. At this point I had tear tracks running down my face. Sodapop was behind Darry, no more anger present in his eyes. I looked at Soda. "Pony I-" He said sadly, but didn't know what to say. Darry interrupted. "Pony what do you think your doing?"

"I'm sorry, but sometimes I just can't take it, and I feel like I gotta get out."

"Ponyboy, you know that y-" But he was interrupted by the sound of something rustling in the bushes. Suddenly, Sodapop's so called friends came out of the shadows. They must have ganged some allies, because there were six of them. They formed a big circle around my brothers and I, and started circling around us,pointing fingers at me and laughing.

Darry was furious, but he didn't know that these were Soda's friends. He thought that they were just kids that were laughing at me. "Leave him alone." Darry growled. A couple of them looked a bit frightened, but the rest didn't flinch.

"Does Pony seriously need his big brother to fight his battles for him?" One of them asked, and I became angry as well. Darry was surprided when he found out that they knew my name. "Come on Sodapop, and join our circle. Watch us teach Ponyboy a lesson that he'll always remember." Some of them snickered again and laughed.

To my surprise, Soda stood up for me. "This isn't his battle. It's mine. And I'm sticking with my brothers."

Some of them snickered. "Oooo. So that's how it's going to be eh? Well, that's okay." The one speaking looked at me. "You turned your brother against us Pony. This will be payback."

Yet again, Soda surprised me. He stepped in between me and the one speaking. "Jim, knock it off. Now."

Jim glared at Soda. "So that's it's? Your choosing that wimp over us?"

Soda glared back. "He's not a wimp. He's my brother, and I'll stick with him to the end."

Jim looked at the other people that were circling me and my brothers, then smiled at Sodapop. "Fine. Stick with your brother. You'll just go down with him then." Jim smirked at me, flipped out a switch, and yelled, "Kill him!"

Jim jumped on top of me, and tackled me to the ground. Darry took on 3 while Soda took on two. The switchblade was flung out of Jim's hand as we fought on the ground. "Greg!" Jim yelled, but I continued to fight him. I didn't know who Greg was, until another guy came over and pinned me down on the ground, and holding me still. I was laying on my back, and I was scared. He was one of the ones that were fighting Sodapop.

Greg had his hands on my shoulders, and he was holding me down. Jim got up and went over to the switchblade. I started squirming around and screaming. My eyes were watery and I was scared. Jim smirked at me and showed me the blade. "This is pay back Pony." He growled.

"DARRY! SODAPOP!" I screamed as loud as I could. After that, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, and knew that it was the switchblade. It was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life. I started screaming, and saw that Darry and Sodapop were fighting harder then ever. Some of the guys had bloody noses and faces, so they started running.

The kids on Darry fled, and he caused the kid on Sodapop to flee as well. Jim and Greg were watching me. They had took the blade out though, so I was gripping my stomach, squirming around on the ground. Darry fought Jim and Greg while Sodapop crouched down beside me. His eyes were watery as he watched me squirm around. He placed his hands over mine on my stomach, and told me to try and calm down.

I looked at Sodapop's eyes, and in them I found the real Sodapop. I found fear, comfort, and now sadness. I saw no anger.

"It hurts Soda!" I cried, and continued to move around. My hands were full of blood, and so were Soda's now. He whispered to me, "Hey baby, you just gotta hold still, okay? try to hold still... Oh my God Pony i'm so sorry!"

"It's not y-your fault." I said. My stomach continued to burn, and I started crying.

Darry got Jim and Greg to run away, and crouched down by me and Soda. Soda looked at Darry with the saddest eyes. "Darry." He said in a heart broken voice.

"Soda, help me keep him still. We gotta stop the bleeding."

Soda said something, but I didn't hear him. I felt hands on my shoulders again and started freaking out. I thought that the person was going to hurt me again. I started squirming around more.

"Pony you gotta relax little buddy. Try to calm down." Came Darry's voice.

"No, no, no! I' can't! I can't! I can't!" I cried out. "It hurts! It hurts! Make it stop! Please make it stop, it hurts." My breathing slowed a bit and I finally stopped squirming. I was getting tired.

"That's it Pony. Just breathe. You'll be okay..." Came Sodapop's voice, but it was no longer filled with anger, but comfort. that was when I realized that Sodapop had changed again, but for the better this time. I looked up through my tears to see that Soda was now silently crying too, while trying to calm me down.

I started to get really tired, and I told Soda that I was tired. I really was.

Soda said, "Pony no. Try to stay awake. Pony, please don't go to sleep. Pony you gotta stay awake!" He said the last part louder since my eyes were fluttering open and closed. Black dots started to fill my vision, and their voices started to fade away. Soda continued to beg me to stay awake, but I just couldn't help it. I was just so tired.

Soda shook me a bit, and I closed my eyes then opened them again, before closing them and keeping them closed.

I heard crying and felt someone wrap their arms around me, holding me tight and pulling me up so I was leaning on them a bit. I knew that Soda was hugging me. Darry was gently touching my stomach and applying pressure to it, trying to slow down the bleeding, but it wasn't working.

I could still feel Soda's arms around me, and I felt safe.

There was darkness, followed by the sensation of floating. The pain was going away, until I felt nothing. After the nothingness, there was peacefulness.


	13. Chapter 12 Darry I'm Right Here!

**Chapter 12**

Anyone's POV

Darry saw Soda holding Ponyboy, and he was still trying to apply pressure to Pony's stomach to slow down the bleeding, but it wasn't working. Darry could tell that Pony was starting to go limp. They needed to get him to a hospital, and so Darry told Soda to go and get help. Soda nodded and gently laid Ponyboy on the ground, trying not to cry, and ran to the nearest payphone.

Darry put his fingers on Ponyboy's neck, and was relieved when he felt a weak heartbeat. He had lost so much blood.

His breathing was different. He was hardly inhaling any air, and he was breathing really quick, shallow breaths. he was pale too.

The ambulance came, and they took him to the hospital. Soda came running back to Darry, and so they ran home and drove to the hospital. The drive there was silent.

They got there, but were told to wait in the waiting room. They used a payphone and called Steve and Two-bit, who were there in a matter of minutes.

"Is he okay? What happened?" Two-bit asked as him and Steve entered the hospital.

Soda continued to look at the floor, feeling guilty. Darry told them about how Soda's friends had come along and stabbed him. Two-bit was doing a mix of glaring at Soda, and giving Soda a sad look. Steve didn't glare at Soda, but he was a bit angry and upset as well. He truly did care for Ponyboy.

They all waited for a while, until a nurse came over to them.

"Family of Ponyboy Curtis?" Everyone stood up, and Darry walked over to her. "I'm Darrel, his guardian."

She nodded. "I'm doctor Miller." She looked through some of her papers, then sadly looked at Darry. "I'm very sorry Darrel. We did everything we could, but, I'm very sorry. It was just too late."

As soon as she finished talking, Soda fell to his knees, crying. Steve crouched next to him, while Darry did the same on the other side. He was upset, but he didn't want to see Soda hurt.

Two-bit just stood there, starring at a wall with a blank expression.

XXX

 _Ponyboy's POV_

I felt weird. I almost felt like I was floating. There was a really bright light. That bright light slowly turned into a room. The room had white walls. I was up high, close to the ceiling, but I didn't know why. I looked down and saw what looked like nurses working on somebody. I floated down and landed on the ground. And that's when I saw it.

I saw a sight that I never wanted to see. The nurses were working on me. It was me on that operating table. It was me. They were working on my stomach, where I had gotten stabbed. They were calling out stuff like, "He's flat lining!" And "Were Losing him!"

I went over to the table and tried to put my hand on my other hand to see what would happen. My hand went through my other hand and through the operating table as well. I froze. I was hoping that this was a nightmare, but I had a feeling that it wasn't.

I looked up and saw a sign that said ICU. I looked back and saw the nurses still working on me, but I could tell that some of them had given up. I couldn't watch the sight any longer.

I went up to the doors and tried to push them open, but instead my hands went through them. I gasped, but once I got over the shock, I went up to the door and walked through it. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight I saw.

I saw Sodapop on his knees, crying. Steve and Darry were next to him, and Two-bit was just standing there, starring off into space. A nurse was there, and I figured that they were crying over me.

That's when I realized that I had actually done it. I had died. I was dead.

I wanted so bad to tell them that I was fine, that I was right there with them in that room, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get them to hear me.

I started shouting at them that I was right in front of them. I walked over to them, but they couldn't hear me or see me.

I knew that this wasn't a nightmare. It was reality.

XXX

 _Still Ponyboy's POV_

I'm not sure how I did it, but I was able to get to my house. Everyone was there already. Soda sat on the couch, crying non-stop, while Steve tried to comfort him, but it wasn't working. Darry was making phone calls in the kitchen.

Two-bit was just starring at my room, trying to think of a way to lighten the mood. He couldn't though. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't.

"Two-bit, are you okay?" I asked. He didn't move or anything. That's when I remembered that I was dead. I was a ghost.

Even knowing this fact didn't stop me. I sat on the other side of Sodapop and put my hand on his, even though my hand went through his hand. After a few minutes, I got up and went into the kitchen by Darry, who was on the phone. He was making funeral arrangements.

"Darry." I whispered, even though I knew full well that he couldn't hear me. "Darry I'm right here." I said as my eyes got watery.

I wanted him to stop. Hearing Darry plan a funeral for me made the whole situation more real. It made it sound like there was no chance of me ever coming back. I knew that there wasn't a chance, but this just made it seem worse.

"Darry!" I tried again, as my eyes got more watery.

"Darry I'm right here!"


	14. Chapter 13 Feeling Safe

**Chapter 13**

 _Ponyboy's POV_

"Darry I'm right here!" I tried again, but nothing happened. "Darry!" I yelled as tears started to roll down my face. I'm not sure how though. I ran out of the kitchen and into the living room. Two-bit and Steve's eyes were watery while Soda was crying. He kept saying, "He hates me! Pony hates me!"

I sat down on the floor in the living room. "I don't _hate_ you Soda." I whispered, even though I knew that he couldn't hear me. There was this little glow of light from the front door, but I could tell that I was the only one that could see it. In that light, I saw the faces of my parents, Johnny, and Dally.

They wanted me to come, but I wasn't ready. I wanted to hold on yet. I wasn't ready to let go.

That light was also in the hospital earlier, at the moment when I died. It comes and goes, waiting for me to finally go with them. I just didn't want to yet.

I stood up and went into my room. The door was closed and so I walked through it. I looked around at all of my stuff, knowing that it was almost time to let it all go. I looked at my trophies from track and at my drawings.

I walked through the wall and went into Soda's room. I looked around, and saw his DX cap sitting on the bed. That was where this whole situation had started. The DX.

I also saw some of the drugs and some empty beer bottles. I heard a noise come from my room and went back into it. This time, I wasn't the only one in my room. Two-bit was in it, and he sat down on my bed. I sat down next to him, even though he didn't know it.

He looked around the room and his eyes got watery. Two-bit got up and went over to my desk. He picked something up, and I sort of gasped when I saw what it was. It was my English Theme. I got up and walked over to Two-bit.

He started skimming through the first few pages as a tear rolled down his face, nothing like the normal, happy Two-bit. "I never knew you wrote this." He whispered to himself, not knowing that I could hear him.

He read through a part of the beginning. He read through the part where we were talking to Cherry and Marcia right before Bob and Randy pulled up at the Drive-in. two-bit whispered, "Oh Pone... Darry doesn't hate you..."

I knew that he was right. I went back over and sat on the bed, watching him skim through it. He skimmed through the rest before setting it down and sighing. He looked at the other stuff in the room and sat on the bed as well.

Two-bit started crying. I haven't seen him cry in a while.

"Two-bit, please don't cry." I begged, although it did nothing. My heart hurt when Two-bit looked around the room again, because he happened to look right through me. It really made me feel like I wasn't even there.

"Say hi to Johnny and Dally for us." Two-bit said, and started crying again. I wanted to comfort him, but there was nothing I could do.

XXX

A while later, Two-bit left my room, Darry was done making phone calls, Soda was still crying, and Steve was still trying to help him. Soda calmed down a bit though, and so Steve decided to go home.

Soda went into the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table. Darry sat down next to him, and they sort of talked. Darry told him when the funeral was, and who was going to be there. Soda started crying again. "Soda, please don't cry... I'm right here." I said as my eyes got watery, and stood in between him and Darry.

Two-bit was in the living room, and asked to stay the night. Darry said he could, and so he laid down on the couch and fell asleep. That was when Soda decided to go to bed as well. He did everything he needed to do to get ready for bed.

What Soda did broke my heart.

Instead of going into his bedroom, he went into mine. He laid down on my bed, and started silently cried. "I'm sorry Pone!" He cried.

My eyes got watery, knowing that no matter what I said, he couldn't hear me.

I decided not to say anything. Instead, I laid down next to him, even though he didn't know that I was there. I cuddled up close to him, and for the first time that day, I felt totally safe... Because I had finally gotten back the real Sodapop.

"I love you Soda." I whispered, but he couldn't hear me. I knew he couldn't. After a while, he was able to stop crying, and he fell asleep.

And I fell asleep right next to him.


	15. Chapter 14 Time to Let Go

**Chapter 14**

 _Still Ponyoby's POV_

I woke up in the middle of the night due to a bright light. It was the same bright light that I had seen earlier. It's the one that wants to call me home. Again, I ignored it, and it went away. I looked over and smiled a bit as I saw that Soda was still next to me. He was asleep.

I cuddled up to him a bit more, and told him I loved him, but he couldn't hear me. I knew he couldn't.

XXX

The next morning, Soda got out of bed and went into his room. I followed, but I went through the walls instead. Soda took off of work today. Steve and Darry still went, and Two-bit was at the house, watching Mickey Mouse.

Soda started crying, and Two-bit did something I didn't think he'd do. He went into my room, pulled out the English theme I wrote, and handed it to Soda. I couldn't help but smile as my eyes got watery.

"W-What is this Two-bit?" Soda asked and wiped his eyes. Two-bit shrugged. "Pony wrote it. I think you should read it sometime."

Soda sniffed and wiped his eyes again. "He wrote all of this?" Two-bit nodded.

Soda opened it and started to read through the first few pages. He was trying so hard not to cry.

"I- I never knew he thought th- that highly of me." Soda said quietly, trying not to cry. Two-bit sat down next to him on the couch. "He loves you Soda." Two-bit said, but he was still upset at Soda. You could hear it in his voice.

Soda sat there for a second, before he started crying again.

I sat down on the other side of Soda. "Soda its okay. Please don't cry." I begged. Yet again, nothing happened. He continued to cry.

That light came again. I was almost about to go into it, but suddenly decided against it. I wanted to stay just for a bit longer. After a few minutes, the light went away. I stood up and went into Soda's room. I'm not sure why, but I did. I laid down on his bed and just stared up at the ceiling.

I heard a noise, and looked over at where it came from. I was looking at the wall, and knew that it was coming from my room. I went out in the living room to see who was still here, and found that Two-bit and Soda were both gone from the couch, and the front door was open a bit, so someone had to have left.

I went into my room, and saw Soda. He was sitting on my bed, just looking around with watery eyes. He got up, and walked over to my desk, and he was still holding my English theme.

He set my English theme down on my desk, and looked at my track trophies. He started crying and picked one up. Then Soda did something I never thought that he would do. He looked at the trophy one last time, before throwing it across the room.

"Soda what are you doing?!" I asked, but he couldn't hear me. Soda grabbed the next one, and did the same thing. He only threw two though, and they both broke.

He put his hands on my desk and pushed everything over onto the floor as he started crying harder.

"Soda stop!" I tried to yell and my eyes got watery. All I could do was watch, because at this point, I was helpless. The front door opened. Soda kicked my stuff that was now on the floor, and continued trashing my room as Two-bit ran in.

"Soda what are you doing?!" Two-bit yelled and grabbed onto to Soda, stopping him from doing any more damage to my room. He made Soda sit on my bed and then sat next to him.

"Soda what are you doing?!" Two-bit hollered.

"I don't know! I just miss him! I- I don't know!"

"Soda, we all miss him, but trashing his room won't help anything." Two-bit said in a calm voice. Soda still thrashed around a bit.

"But I'm right here!" I tried again, even though I knew that nothing was going to happen.

Two-bit hugged Soda, as Soda let out the rest of his grief. Soda didn't hug him back though "I'm sorry!" Soda cried.

"Soda?" Two-bit asked, and his eyes got watery.

"What?"

"I... I forgive you."

Soda cried a bit more, but he didn't hug Two-bit back.

I turned around, and the light was back. I looked back at Soda and Two-bit as my eyes got watery. It was finally time for me to leave. It was time for me to let go. I went over and gave Soda the best hug I could. He couldn't feel me, but I could feel him. "I love you Sodapop. Good-bye." I whispered. I wiped my eyes and gave Two-bit a hug as well. "Good-bye Two-bit. I'll miss you guys."

I stood all the way up, and watched for a little bit yet. That was when Soda finally hugged Two-bit back, and they both let their grief go.

I smiled through my tears as I turned around, and walked into the light.


	16. Chapter 15 Because it was Real

**Chapter 15**

 _Ponyboy's POV_

I stepped into the bright light. It was very bright, but I didn't have to shield my eyes. I walked forward a bit, and saw some figures. They got closer, and I recognized the face of Johnny and Dallas. They were both smiling but Johnny had tears of joy running down his face.

"Hey Pone." He said, and hugged me. I smiled and tears ran down my face as well. "I missed you so much Johnny!" I cried, and hugged him tighter.

He didn't have any burns or scars or nothing. He didn't have that scared look in his eye. He looked like nothing bad had ever happened to him.

After a while, we stopped hugging, and I looked up at Dallas. "Hey kid." He said and smirked.

"I missed you Dally!" I said. I ran up to him and gave him a hug. To my surprise, he hugged me back. "It's great to see you Pone." He said.

More figures were coming. They got closer, and I realized that it was my mom and dad. I let go of Dally and looked at them. It had been so long since I had last seen them...

"Mom! Dad!" I yelled and ran over to them. My mom was crying and engulfed me in a big hug. My dad joined it.

"I missed you baby." My mom said. "I missed you too mom!" I cried and hugged her tighter. I looked at my dad, and his eyes were watery. He ruffled my hair then rubbed my back, something he used to do to comfort my brothers and me.

"I missed you dad!" I yelled and hugged him after mom.

"We missed you too Pony." My dad said.

My mom looked at me again. "I'm sorry this had to happen Pony. Y- You didn't deserve to die baby. You had a future ahead of you."

I looked at her again and more tears ran down my face. "I'm glad I'm here though. I missed you guys so much!" I hugged her again and she hugged me back.

The five of us started walking. I didn't know where we were going, but they did. My mom had her arm around me as we walked. She was just how I remember her before the car wreck.

We continued walking, and my dad said to me, "I want to show you something." I nodded, and him and I started walking. I didn't realize it at first, but we started walking through a forest. It was beautiful though. There were flowers of different colors, there were a whole bunch of trees, and we were walking along side a little creek. That creek slowly ended up turning into a small river as we continued walking.

The river wasn't moving very fast, and it went into a pond. My dad took me up to the pond. "What do you see?" He asked.

I looked over the edge and saw my reflection starring back at me. I saw my dad's too. "I only see my reflection." I told him as I looked up at him. He shook his head at me and smiled. "Look a bit harder."

I did, and the area where I was looking slowly started transforming. I didn't know what was happening though. As I continued to watch the pond, everything around me started to turn white, until I couldn't see anything. Everything, even the pond, was white. Completely white. White was the only thing I could see. That white slowly transformed into my room.

I was so confused... Why was I back? My dad wasn't here either. I didn't know where he went. I was back at my house, but I was still a ghost. I don't know why he sent me back here.

I heard crying and knew where it was coming from. It was coming from Soda's room. I went in there and saw Soda. He was just sitting there, crying. He cried and cried and cried. My eyes watered, knowing I couldn't do anything to help him. So, I just sat down next to him. I saw that he was holding a note, and it was his handwriting. He wrote it.

It said,

* * *

 _Dear Pony,_

 _I hate myself for what I did to you. I don't like who I am. There's nothing good about me anymore. I'm sick of wasting my time, and I'm tired of living. Everyday is just a struggle. I eat the same demons everyday when I wake up and I'm so tired. I don't know what happened to me, or where I went wrong. I miss you, so much that it hurts. Will this pain ever go away?_

 _I'm trying not to think about it all but no matter how hard I try to distract myself, nothing makes me feel better. Imagining that your with me, and what you would say... Sometimes, its almost like I can feel you. I don't want this to be over because when this is over, I have to admit that your gone. Forever. I'm not ready. I never was._

* * *

I read through it a few times. He was still crying, and I saw that he had a pencil in his hand, and I could tell that he had just wrote this not too long ago, and that he wasn't done yet. That's when the front door opened. "Soda, I'm home!" Darry yelled.

Soda didn't answer, but just cried harder. Darry must have heard, because he came into the room. He sat down by Soda and just hugged him, trying to calm him down.

"What's wrong little buddy?" Darry asked calmly, although he already knew.

Soda quickly broke away from the hug, and a bit of anger flashed through his eyes, but he was still crying. "Everything I have ever cared about... Is gone!... Ruined! Turned to crap! Dead! I have never been more alone! I have... nothing! No one, alright?! It's all gone!" Soda just starred at Darry after the outburst, and started crying again.

Darry looked back at Sodapop. "I need you to calm down." He said quietly.

"No, No, No! I can't! I can't! I can't! I... I can't! I can't! It hurts! It hurts! Just make it stop, please make it stop, it hurts!"

My eyes widened a tiny bit as I remember saying those exact same words when I was squirming around on the ground the day I got stabbed.

"I can't move on! I can't do this, I can't! I can't handle him being gone! If that makes me weak then fine, I'm weak but... I can't handle feeling like this anymore!"

"You're not weak Sodapop." Darry said.

"Then why does it hurt so much?!" Soda asked.

Darry's eyes got watery. "Because it was real."


End file.
